Round 3 of IL-2, Day 3

 Around 4 am I awoke to the CNA urgently calling out to the nurse, "77/43 and 78/44, I checked twice!" A flurry of activity followed as the Phenylephrine was brought in, hung on the IV pole, and tubing attached to the "Internal Jugular Central Line." (I wanted to say it again! 😀) That meant that the blood pressure cuff was put on his arm. Mark is a light sleeper and does not sleep through the tightening of the cuff every 15 minutes. So, no more sleep for him! I should add that he continued to be dizzy and nauseous.

The medicine did its job in regulating his blood pressure, so it was stopped around 10:45 am. The cuff is supposed to stay on for 2 more hours. Mark was tired and eager to sleep, so at 12:45 pm, he took the cuff off! Of course, a nurse came running. She put the cuff back on and rechecked it. This time the systolic pressure was 86 -- much lower than it had been all morning. Oh no! Mark questioned the validity of that reading, as he thought the cuff was too low on his arm. She said she'd check again in a few minutes. That's when prayers get specific -- "please let the systolic at least be in the '90s!"  I watched as it registered on the screen ending in 96/45. YEA that would do it! The cuff was removed. I requested a "Do Not Disturb" sign which she graciously posted on the door. He slept the rest of the afternoon. 

When the team came in this morning, they were somewhat concerned about his liver and kidney functions as indicated by the creatinine levels. Another blood test was done at 2 pm. Heather, our nurse, heard back from the team that the 3 pm infusion would not be given as the creatinine levels were slightly elevated from earlier. I had noticed how yellow his skin was, and his face and hands were getting quite puffy from fluid retention. 

This morning they also asked Mark about his vision and his ability to focus. Mark had noticed that his vision was a bit fuzzy, and it definitely took too much mental energy to read a text or an email. 

We just heard that there will be no infusion today, but likely one at 7 am tomorrow. That should give his body enough time to regulate. It's crazy what this stuff does to the body, but if it works, it's worth it!